This 22-Year-Old Game Lets You Explore London at the Turn of the Millennium

Even though time machines are still pure science fiction and beyond the realm of possibility, there are still ways to sort of travel back in time – through old photos and especially videos that show, for example, what your hometown looked like when your grandparents were toddlers.

One medium that we typically don't associate with preserving what's long gone is video games, largely because they usually take place in fictional settings, but also because those settings often serve as nothing more than a backdrop for the gameplay, and thus get overlooked by most gamers. However, as it turns out, games can also serve as perfect time capsules – a fact recently highlighted with a series of stunning screenshots shared by a seasoned Writer and PR Manager at Devolver Digital, Andy Kelly.

In his Twitter thread, Andy revisited Team Soho's 2002 action-adventure video game for PlayStation 2, The Getaway, demonstrating just how well the 22-year-old title managed to capture the look and feel of London at the turn of the millennium, with its street shops, signs, and ads perfectly conveying the early 2000s vibe.

According to Andy, The Getaway "holds up surprisingly well as a London sightseeing simulator," which is especially impressive considering the game's age and its being a PlayStation 2 title. Goes to show that graphics don't really matter – realism can still come through, even in glorious 480p.

Interestingly, the game's authentic depiction of London was not a fluke – the developers put particular focus on this aspect of The Getaway. Originally, the title was supposed to launch alongside PlayStation 2 in 2000, but Team Soho postponed it to 2002 because they needed more time to, you guessed it, refine the in-game city to the point where people would enjoy free-roaming it.

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